


Startle Reflex

by terpinleather



Series: Half Moon Saloon [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Banshees, Fae & Fairies, Gen, Hunters, Multiple Mythologies, Not Beacon Hills, Original work - Freeform, Pre-Teen Wolf Crossover, Saloon-AU, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 01:49:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2755079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terpinleather/pseuds/terpinleather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, you idjit, you startled me!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Startle Reflex

**Author's Note:**

> Original work inspired by Teen Wolf with original setting and characters. Later works will have Teen Wolf character crossovers.

It was a quiet afternoon at the Half Moon Saloon when Ian Quinn walked in.  Jade was behind the bar, and smiled at him as he took a seat.

“Hello, Ian!  Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

“Afternoon, Jade.  Yeah, I had to go back East for a bit, deal with some… family business.”

“Oh, hunter stuff, huh?”  It always surprised Ian how comfortable the Half Moon staff were with hunters and supernaturals.  Though, really, he shouldn’t be by now.

“Yeah, something like that.  I see you’re manning the bar today.  Mo leave you in charge?”

Jade smiled.  Ian and Mo had an on again/off again relationship of sorts.  She wasn’t surprised that he’d stop by to see Mo after a long trip.

“Mo’s here.  She’s down in the tap room doing inventory before the new shipment comes in, if you’d like to go say hello.”  She nodded towards the open trap door behind the bar.

Ian considered a moment, then nodded.  “Thanks,” he said to Jade as he stepped behind the bar.

As he descended into the gloom of the tap room, he could hear faint music coming from the far corner.  Coming around a set of kegs, he saw Mo with her clipboard in front of the shelves of liquor bottles.  She had headphones on with the music cranked up so loud, he could hear it across the room.  She was bopping along to the music as she checked her inventory.

“Mo!” Ian called out to her, but she couldn’t hear him over the music.  He tried again a bit louder.

“MO!” She kept right on bopping to the music as she moved down the shelves.

“MOIRA!!!” he shouted, but she still didn’t hear him.

Smiling, he shook his head as he made his way over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder as she bent over to count bottles on a lower shelf.

Suddenly, there was a great impact to his chest, and he skidded across the floor, coming to a stop against the wall.  Gasping, he looked up to see Mo in a defensive stance, fists up, ready for a fight.

When she recognized him, her hand covered her mouth and her amber eyes went wide.  She yanked the headphones off, throwing them aside with her clip board.

“Oh my god... Ian!”  Mo was at his side in an instant, smoothing back his hair as he tried to catch his breath.

Jade poked her head in to find out what all the noise was about.

“Jade, get Bester!  We need to get Ian over to Altha!”  Jade disappeared back into the bar, calling for Bester from the kitchen.

“Oh, you idjit, you startled me!”  Mo’s face flushed red.

“I… see that…” Ian was taking deeper breaths, but his chest hurt like a sonofabitch!

Mo let loose with a string of Gaelic, which Ian took to be cussing.

Bester made his way down the steps just then, and came over to help Ian up off the floor.  At a stocky 5’11”, he was a better match to get Ian’s lanky 6 foot frame up and out of the tap room than Mo was at a tiny 5’2”.

They made their way out of the tap room, through the bar, and down into the kitchen where Altha was waiting for them.  

Bester lowered Ian into a chair next to a tray in the prep area and Altha started to check him out.  Unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it aside, she felt gently along his ribs, pushing slightly to feel for fractures.  Ian winced when she got to his sternum, hissing in a breath.  Altha smiled at him sympathetically.  She took an odd looking metal cone from the tray, and put the smaller, flat end against his chest.

“Take slow deep breaths,” she said, as she put her ear against the wide end of the cone.  Ian did as she asked, though it was uncomfortable.  She moved the cone from place to place on his chest as she listened.

“Well, nothing’s broken, and your chest sounds clear.  You’re gonna have a heck of a bruise here, though.”  Altha gently touched his sternum again.

Mo muttered another string of Gaelic as she stomped out of the kitchen.  Ian looked after her, worried.

“Don’t mind her,” Altha told him.  “She’s just upset that she’s hurt you.  Give her a little time to calm down and she’ll be alright.”

Altha opened one of the small tins from the tray and applied a salve to Ian’s chest.  He wrinkled his nose at the smell.  Altha smiled.

“I know, it stinks to high heaven, but it will take some of the pain away, and help the bruise heal faster.  I’ll give you some to take home, too.  You should apply it every morning and evening, for as long as you still have the pain.  If you have any problems, or it gets worse, get your ass to a hospital.”  Altha wiped her hands on a towel, and handed him the closed tin of salve before starting to put away her tools.

Ian buttoned up his shirt again, then Bester helped him stand up.  He was steadier now and after a few steps, could walk on his own, though Bester stayed near just in case.  He tucked the tin of salve into his pocket as they made their way back into the bar.

Jade was back behind the bar, and Mo was nowhere in sight.  Ian raised an eyebrow at Jade, who shook her head.  With a sigh, Ian made his way to the door.

“You be alright, man?” Bester asked.

“Yeah, man, thanks.” Ian replied.  “And, Bester?” he paused as he pushed open the door.

“Yeah, man?”

“Don’t ever startle that woman.  She kicks like horse!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! kudos and comments are welcome, constructive criticism appreciated!  
> my thanks to FlutterFyre for encouraging me to write, and for beta reading my stories!


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